Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO, Inc. has teamed up with Maniilaq Association, the State of Alaska, Dudley Ventures, LLC, and New York Community Bank to secure $18,635,000 for the construction and operation of a Kotzebue extended-care nursing home (Elders/Long Term Care) using leverage from a federal community development tax incentive program. Maniilaq Association is a non-profit corporation which represents a dozen federally-recognized tribes in Northwest Alaska.

When complete, the 14,340 square foot addition to the Maniilaq Health Center will provide advanced care for up to 18 elders, as well as provide 20 full time jobs. “This facility will ensure that our elders will receive the best possible care close to their families and friends in Northwest Alaska. Our Elders get to stay closer to home without having to go to facilities in Anchorage or Fairbanks, and will receive a higher level of medical care while continuing to live in the region, eat the foods they are accustomed to eating and experience the same cultural activities they are used to,” said Maniilaq President Ian Erlich. Additionally, the State of Alaska will benefit by saving millions in Medicaid dollars, utilizing Federal Medicaid rather than State funds. Since Medicaid rates within Tribally Funded Long Term Care Programs are fully reimbursable by the Federal Government, the State to cover 45% is not required.

The Maniilaq Health Center Elder Care Addition project will receive the funds through a program called the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC), the largest federal community development tax initiative in nearly 20 years. “This federal program takes investment funds from Wall Street to Main Street Alaska,” said Hugh Short, President and CEO of Alaska Growth Capital. “Using New Markets Tax Credits can now bring outside investments to qualified rural and urban areas of Alaska.”

The facility is on schedule to start providing Elder care by late summer of 2011.

Alaska Growth Capital is an ASRC company that offers business loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); as well as the largest CDFI certified institution in Alaska.

AGC was allocated $50 million in New Markets Tax Credits in 2009 for funding projects in Alaska and Hawaii, Arizona, and Montana, and facilitated the Elder Care Addition as a Qualified Low-Income Community Investment project. AGC has received $90 million in allocation authority since 2002.